Hinge device for storage container

ABSTRACT

A hinge device coupling a cover to a container body is minimized in size to be embedded in the cover or the container body without exposure to an outside of the cover and the container body. The hinge device provides the storage container with a neat appearance and is easily installed in a storage container. The hinge device includes a hollow housing attached to one of the cover and the container body, a hinge shaft having a shaft part received in the hollow housing and rotatably supported by the hollow housing, an extension part extended from an end of the shaft part and coupled to the other one of the cover and the container body, and one or more protrusions provided at the shaft part, a movable member inserted around on the shaft part to be moved longitudinally and having cam surfaces contacting the protrusions, and a compression spring received in the housing to bias the movable member toward the protrusions.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of Korean Application Nos.2001-45740 and 2002-19269 filed Jul. 28, 2001 and Apr. 9, 2002respectively, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosureof which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a hinge device for a storagecontainer, and more particularly, to a hinge device for a storagecontainer having a container body with a receptacle chamber and a topopening, and a cover closing the top opening of the receptacle chamber.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] In general, a typical Kimchi storage container has been known asa top opening-type storage container having a top cover attached to acontainer body and adapted to swingably open and close the containerbody. As shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned Kimchi storage containerincludes a container body 1, a receptacle chamber 2 formed therein, atop opening, a cover 3 closing the top opening of the receptacle chamber2, and a hinge device 4 swingably coupling the cover 3 to the containerbody 1 and mounted on a rear upper portion of a sidewall of thecontainer body 1.

[0006] In the above storage container, the hinge device 4 has a hingecase 4 a attached to the rear upper portion of the sidewall of thecontainer body 1, and a hinge shaft 4 b disposed in the hinge case 4 ato swingably couple the cover 3 to the container body 1. Furthermore,the hinge case 4 a is provided therein with an extendable rod 4 ccausing the cover 3 to be swung to an opened position or a closedposition when the cover 3 is opened and closed, a coil spring 4 delastically supporting the extendable rod 4 c, and a guide groove 4 eguiding extending and swing motions of the extendable rod 4 c. With thehinge device 4, the cover 3 is easily opened and closed because thecover 3 is biased to the opened position when being opened while thecover 3 is also biased to the closed position when being closed.

[0007] However, the conventional hinge device for a storage container iscomplicated in configuration and somewhat bulky and is difficult to bemounted on the storage container during a production process thereof. Inaddition, the conventional hinge device has disadvantages in that theappearance is not neat and in that it is cumbersome in handling thestorage container because the hinge device 4 is outwardly projected fromthe container body 1 to allow the extending and swing motions of theextendable rod 4 c.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] Accordingly, the present invention has been made overcome theabove and other problems occurring in the prior art, and an object ofthe present invention is to provide a hinge device which is notprojected from a container body of a storage container due to sizeminimization and is easily installed on the storage container whileretaining basic functions of a conventional hinge device.

[0009] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be setforth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will beobvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of theinvention.

[0010] In order to achieve the above and other objects, the presentinvention provides a hinge device rotatably coupling a cover to acontainer body in a storage container. The hinge device includes ahollow housing attached to one of the cover and the container body, ahinge shaft including a rotatable shaft part received in the housing androtatably supported by the housing at its opposite ends, an extensionpart extended from an end of the rotatable shaft part to an outside ofthe housing and fitted to the other one of the cover and the containerbody, and one or more protrusions provided at an outer surface of therotatable shaft part, a movable member inserted around the rotatableshaft part to be moved longitudinally along the rotatable shaft part andprovided with cam faces corresponding to the protrusions, and acompression spring received in the housing to bias the movable membertoward the protrusions.

[0011] The housing includes a hollow housing body of a predeterminedlength with opposite open ends and two housing covers attached to theopposite open ends of the housing body, the rotatable shaft part havingopposite ends being supported by the two housing covers.

[0012] The hinge device may have one or more guide members received inthe housing, and fixedly coupled to the housing covers to pass throughthe movable member, and disposed to be parallel to the rotatable shaftpart so as to prevent a rotation of the movable member and to stablyguide a longitudinal movement of the movable member along the rotableshaft part.

[0013] The rotatable shaft part may have a flange limiting an axialmovement of the rotatable shaft part and to afford free rotation of therotatable shaft part.

[0014] The compression spring may be a compression coil spring, whichsurrounds the rotatable shaft part between the flange and one of thehousing covers.

[0015] The movable member may have a cylindrical cam part and a pair ofcam surfaces formed at an end of the cam part to face the protrusionsand to be shaped in saw tooth forms.

[0016] Each cam surface may include a stop surface which islongitudinally formed to limit further movement of the protrusion of therotatable shaft part when the protrusion reaches a deepest valleyportion, i.e., when the cover is completely opened, an opening guidesurface obliquely formed on the cam part to guide the protrusion in anopening direction to open the cover, and a closing guide surface of apredetermined length which is located at the highest position of the camsurface and extended from the opening guide surface in a directionperpendicular to an axis of the cam part to guide the protrusion in aclosing direction to close the cover.

[0017] The hinge shaft may include a tube member, which is fitted on therotatable shaft part such that the tube member cannot be rotated withrespect to the shaft part, the protrusions being formed on an outersurface of the tube member.

[0018] The tube member may be provided at its inner surface with a flatface portion so as not to be rotated with respect to the hinge shaft,and the rotatable shaft part of the hinge shaft may be provided at itsouter surface with a flat cut portion corresponding to the flat faceportion of the tube member.

[0019] The protrusions may be a pin, which is fitted into a holediametrically formed at the rotatable shaft part.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] These and other objects and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent and more readily appreciated from the followingdescription of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings of which:

[0021]FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional Kimchi storagecontainer as a storage container having a cover and a container body;

[0022]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a Kimchi storagecontainer having a hinge device according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

[0023]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing opening and closingoperations of a cover employing the hinge device of FIG. 2;

[0024]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge device of FIG.3;

[0025]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an opening position of the hingedevice of FIG. 3;

[0026]FIG. 6 is another perspective view of a closing position of thehinge device of FIG. 3;

[0027]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a movable member of the hingedevice of FIG. 3;

[0028]FIG. 8 is a development elevation view of the movable member ofthe hinge device of FIG. 3; and

[0029]FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a hinge shaft ofthe hinge device according to another embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0030] Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferredembodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustratedin the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer tothe like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below inorder to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0031] This invention will be described in further detail by way ofexample with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, the present invention will be described as being applied toa top opening-type Kimchi storage container in which Kimchi ferments andis preserved.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a Kimchi storage container employs ahinge device 30 according to an embodiment the present invention. TheKimchi storage container includes a container body 10 made of a heatinsulating material and having receptacle chambers 11 with a topopening, and covers 20 coupled to of an upper end of the container body10 to close the corresponding top opening 11 of the receptacle chambers11 of the container body 10. The receptacle chambers 11 of the containerbody 10 are divided into left and right compartments by a centralpartition plate 12. The container body 10 is provided in its walls withan evaporator 13 including a refrigeration pipe surrounding thereceptacle chambers 11 cooling the receptacle chambers 11, and a heater14 heating the receptacle chambers 11 to ferment Kimchi. Furthermore,the container body 10 is provided with a machine room 16 having acompressor 15 coupled to the evaporator 13. The compressor 15 and theheater 14 are coupled to an external power source.

[0033] Two covers 20 are provided to open and close the correspondingtop openings of the receptacle chambers 11. Each of the covers 20 isswingably coupled to a rear portion of the upper end of the containerbody 10 via hinge devices 30.

[0034] The hinge devices 30 not only serve to swingably couple thecovers 20 to the container body 10 but also serve to allow the covers 20to be easily opened and closed. That is, each of the hinge devices 30enables the cover 20 to be swung to an opened position when a user opensthe covers 20 and to a closed position when the user closes the covers20. As a result, easy opening and closing operations of the covers 20are performed although the covers 20 have a considerable weight due tothe heat insulating material contained in the covers 20.

[0035] In addition to the above-mentioned functions, the hinge devices30 are relatively small in size so as not to be projected from thecontainer body 10, thereby providing a neat appearance of the Kimchistorage container.

[0036] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the container body 10 is provided atthe rear portion of the upper end with a plurality of hinge supports 17which have a semicircular cross-section and fitting holes 17 a having aninternal shape corresponding to an outer shape of the hinge device 30 toreceive the hinge device 30. Each of the covers 20 is provided at a rearend with a connector 21 adapted to be snugly fitted between the hingesupports 17. When the cover 20 is installed on the container body 10,the hinge device 30 is first inserted into the fitting hole 17 a of thehinge support 17, and a hinge shaft 40 is fitted into the connector 21of the cover 20. By such a configuration, the cover 20 can be swingablycoupled to the container body 10, and the hinge device 30 is not exposedto an. outside of the cover 20 and the container body 10. Although thisembodiment of the present invention describes the hinge supports 17provided at the container body 10 and the connectors 21 provided at thecovers 20, the hinge supports 17 may be provided at the covers 20, andthe connectors 21 may be provided at the container body 10.

[0037] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each hinge device 30 includes ahousing having a hollow housing body 31 and a pair of housing covers 32and 33 attached to opposite ends of the housing body 31. The hingedevice 30 also includes a hinge shaft 40, a movable member 50 adapted tobe moved along the hinge shafts 40 and having a cam part 55, a spring 60biasing the movable member 50, and a pair of guide rods 70 guiding alinear movement of the movable member 50, all of which are received inthe housing of the hinge device 30.

[0038] The housing body 31 includes of a cylindrical body which isopened at the opposite ends, and which includes flat portions 31 a and31 b formed at a top and bottom of the cylindrical body such that thehousing body 31 can be securely fixed in the fitting hole 17 a of thehinge support 17 to be prevented from being rotated therein. The pair ofhousing covers 32 and 33 have a flat plate shape corresponding toopposite openings of the housing body 31 and are attached to thecorresponding opposite ends of the housing body 31 using fasteningscrews 34. The housing covers 32 and 33 are centrally formed withthrough holes 32 a and 33 a such that the hinge shaft 40 can berotatably supported in the through holes 32 a and 33 a.

[0039] The hinge shaft 40 includes a rotatable shaft part 41 received inthe housing body 31 and an extension part 42 integrally andconcentrically connected to the rotatable shaft part 41. The shaft part41 is rotatably supported in the through holes 32 a and 33 a formed atthe housing covers 32 and 33, and the extension part 42 is extendedoutwardly and fitted in the connector 21 of the cover 20. The connector21 of the cover 20 is provided with a fitting groove 22 so that theextension part 42 of the hinge shaft 40 is fitted in the fitting groove22. The extension part 42 is provided at opposite sides with flat cutportions 42 a such that the extension part 42 fitted in the fittinggroove 22 is held in a fixed condition without being rotated within thefitting groove 21. Accordingly, the fitting groove 22 of the cover 20 isformed with a shape corresponding to that of the extension part 42. Thisconfiguration enables the hinge shaft 40 to be rotated together with thecover 20 when the user opens or closes the cover 20.

[0040] The rotatable shaft part 41, which is supported in the throughholes 32 a of the housing covers 32, is provided at its end with aflange 43 which serves to allow the rotatable shaft part 41 to be freelyrotated while preventing its axial displacement. The flange 43 preventsthe hinge shaft 40 from being moved axially even if the hinge shaft 40receives a considerable axial force by the compression spring 60. Inthis case, the flange 43 may be manufactured as a separate ring to befixed on an outer surface of the shaft part 41 or integrally formed onthe shaft part 41.

[0041] The rotatable shaft part 41 is also provided at its outer surfacewith two protrusions 44, which cause the movable member 50 to be movedlongitudinally (axially) by a contact between the protrusion 44 and thecam part 55 of the movable member 50 when the hinge shaft 40 is rotatedtogether with the connector 21 of the cover 20. The two protrusions 44are symmetrically disposed on opposite sides of an outer surface of therotatable shaft part 41. The two protrusions 44 may be embodied by beingintegrally formed on the shaft part 41 or by a separate pin, which isinserted into a pin fitting hole 41 a radially formed at the shaft part41 and then exposed to the outside at its opposite ends to serve as apair of the protrusions 44.

[0042] Alternatively, the protrusions 44 may be formed on an outersurface of an additional tube member 46, which is fitted around therotatable shaft part 41, as shown in FIG. 9. In this case, theprotrusions 44 are integrally formed with the tube member 46, and thetube member 46 is symmetrically provided at its inner surface with firstflat surface portions 46 a so as not to be rotated with respect to therotatable shaft part 41. Accordingly, the rotatable shaft part 41 isprovided at its outer surface with second flat cut portions 41 bcorresponding to the first flat surface portions 46 a.

[0043] As shown in FIGS. 4 through 7, the movable member 50 includes acentral through hole 51 so that the movable member 50 can be rotatablyinserted around the rotatable shaft part 41 and can be movedlongitudinally therealong. The movable member 50 is also provided withan integral cam part 55 at a side disposed adjacent to the protrusions44 and is shaped to have a lateral width larger than a height so as notto be rotated during movement along the rotatable shaft part 41. Aportion of the movable number 50 having the lateral width is formed withguide holes 52. Furthermore, the movable member 50 is provided atopposite sides with guide recesses 54, which are in sliding contact withguide rails 31 c formed at an inner surface of the housing body 31 toguide the movement of the movable member 50. The guide rails 31 c arelongitudinally formed at both sides of the inner surface of the housingbody 31. The movable member 50 is shaped such that a thickness at itsmiddle portion formed with the through hole 51 is larger than that atits both sides in order to prevent shaking during its longitudinalmovement.

[0044] The movable member 50 is formed at both sides with a pair of theguide holes 52 into which the guide rods 70 are inserted so that themovable member 50 can be stably moved back and forth along the rotatableshaft part 41 without rotating with respect to the housing body 31. Inorder to prevent such shaking of the movable member 50 during alongitudinal movement, the movable member 50 is provided around guideholes 52 with support ribs 53, which are extended therefrom by a certaindistance and surround the guide rods 70. The guide rods 70 are disposedto be spaced from and parallel to the rotatable shaft part 41 and aresupported at their opposite ends by the housing covers 32 and 33.

[0045] The spring 60 is a compression coil spring and is inserted aroundthe rotatable shaft part 41 to bias the movable member 50 having the campart 55 toward the protrusions 44. In other words, the spring 60 isinserted around the rotatable shaft part 41 to be disposed between thehousing cover 33 at its one end and the movable member 50 at its otherend to bias the movable member 50 toward the protrusions 44. Althoughthe spring 60 is described as a compression coil spring, the spring 60may be any type of elastic component, such as a leaf spring, with asufficient biasing force to bias the movable member 50 toward theprotrusions.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 7, the cam part 55 of the movable member 50 isshaped into a hollow cylindrical form, which is fitted on the rotatableshaft part 41, and is symmetrically provided at its outer end with apair of cam surfaces 56 facing the protrusions.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 8, each cam surface 56 includes a stop surface56 a which is longitudinally formed to limit further movement of theprotrusion 44 of the rotatable shaft part 41 when the protrusion 44reaches the deepest valley portion (“A” section), an opening guidesurface 56 b obliquely formed on the cam part to guide the protrusion 44in a direction of opening the cover 20 (“B” section), and a closingguide surface 56 c which is located at the highest position of the camsurface 56 and is extended from the opening guide surface 56 b in adirection being perpendicular to an axis of the cam part to guide theprotrusion 44 in a direction of closing the cover 20 (“C” section).

[0048] With this configuration of the cam surface 56, when theprotrusions 44 reach the deepest valley portion (“A” section), theprotrusions 44 are caught by the stop surfaces 56 a so that the cover 20is prevented from being further opened in a state of being completelyopened. When the protrusions 44 are positioned on the opening guidesurfaces 56 b (“B” section), the protrusions 44 are pushed by theopening guide surfaces 56 b, thereby causing the cover 20 to be rotatedtoward the opened position. When the protrusions 44 reach the highestclosing guide surfaces 56 c and move thereon (“C” section), the cover 20is closed by its own weight.

[0049] An operation of the hinge device according to the embodiment ofthe present invention will now be described.

[0050] When a user opens or closes the cover 20 of the storagecontainer, the hinge shaft 40 fitted in the cover 20 is rotated togetherwith the protrusions 44 provided at the rotatable shaft part 41. At thispoint, the protrusions 44 move along the cam surfaces 56 of the movablemember 50. Since the movable member 50 is in a condition of being biasedtoward the protrusions 44 by the elastic force of the spring 60, themovable member 50 is moved longitudinally along the hinge shaft 40,thereby pushing the protrusions 44 rotating together with the hingeshaft 20 during opening or closing of the cover. Due to the longitudinalmovement of the movable member 50, the protrusions are biased to causethe cover 20 to be easily opened or closed.

[0051] In the opening and closing operation of the cover, since the camsurfaces 56 push the protrusions 44 when the movable member 50 is movedlongitudinally, the hinge shaft 40 is rotated. That is, when the cover20 of the storage container is positioned in “opening section” of FIG.3, the hinge shaft 40 is rotated to the opened position. On the otherhand, when the cover 20 is positioned in “closing section” of FIG. 3,the hinge shaft 40 is rotated to the closed position. Therefore, thecover 20 can be easily opened and closed.

[0052] More specifically, when the cover 20 is opened, the movablemember 50 is moved toward the protrusions 44 while pushing theprotrusions 44 by a contact between the protrusions 44 and the openingguide face 56 b as shown in FIG. 5. At this point, the protrusions 44are pushed along the opening guide surfaces 56 b, thereby causing thecover 20 to be rotated to the opened position. That is, since theprotrusions 44 are pushed to “A” section through “B” section of FIG. 8,the hinge shaft 40 is rotated to the opened position. In this case, ifthe elastic force of the spring 60 is properly controlled such that anopening force to rotate the hinge shaft 40 to the opened position isalmost equal to a closing force of gravity of the cover 20 to rotate thecover 20 to the closed position, the cover 20 can remain in the openingsection of FIG. 3 without moving to the opened position and to theclosed position. When the protrusions 44 reach “A” section of the camsurfaces 56, the protrusions 44 are caught by the stop surfaces 56 a, sothat the cover 20 cannot be further opened.

[0053] In the closing operation of the cover 20, since the protrusions44 are moved to “C” section from “B” section of FIG. 8, the movablemember 50 is moved toward the spring 60, thereby compressing the spring60 as shown in FIG. 6. When the protrusions 44 are positioned on theclosing guide surface 56 c (“C” section of FIG. 8), a turning force bythe elastic force of the spring 60 is not exerted on the hinge shaft 40because the closing guide surface 56 c is parallel to the rotatingdirection of the hinge shaft 40. Accordingly, the cover 20 is rotatedand closed by its own weight. That is, when the cover 20 is positionedin the closing section of FIG. 3, the cover 20 closes by itself.

[0054] As described above, the present invention provides a hinge devicefor a storage container, which is capable of coupling a cover to acontainer body without being exposed to the outside of the containerbody and the cover by being minimized in size. Therefore, the hingedevice serves to give the storage container a neat appearance and toreduce a space occupied thereby.

[0055] Furthermore, since the hinge device is minimized in size andsimplified in construction as compared with a conventional hinge device,a manufacturing process and installation operation of the hinge deviceand the storage container can be easily performed.

[0056] Although a few preferred embodiments of the present inventionhave been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilledin the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departingfrom the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which isdefined in the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hinge device rotatably coupling a cover to acontainer body in a storage container, comprising: a hollow housing,attached to one of the cover and the container body; a hinge shaftincluding a rotatable shaft part received in the housing and havingopposite ends rotatably supported by the housing, an extension partextended from one of the opposite ends of the rotatable shaft part to anoutside of the housing and fixedly coupled to the other one of the coverand the container body, and at least one protrusion provided at an outersurface of the rotatable shaft part; a movable member inserted aroundthe rotatable shaft part to be moved longitudinally and provided with acam surface corresponding to the protrusion; and a spring received inthe housing to bias the movable member toward the protrusion.
 2. Thehinge device of claim 1, wherein the housing comprises a hollow housingbody of a predetermined length with opposite opening ends and twohousing covers attached the opposite opening ends of the housing body,and the opposite ends of the rotatable shaft part are supported by thetwo housing covers.
 3. The hinge device of claim 2, further comprisingat least one guide member received in the housing to pass through themovable member such that the at least one guide member is parallel tothe rotatable shaft part, wherein the at least one guide member is fixedto the housing covers so as to prevent a rotational movement of themovable member and to stably guide a longitudinal movement of themovable member.
 4. The hinge device of claim 2, wherein the rotatableshaft part is provided with a flange, which limits an axial movement ofthe rotatable shaft part and allows the rotatable shaft part to rotatewith respect to the movable member.
 5. The hinge device of claim 1,wherein the spring is a compression coil spring disposed around therotatable shaft part.
 6. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein themovable member comprises a cylindrical cam part, and the cam surface isformed at an end of the cam part facing the protrusion and shaped in asawtooth form.
 7. The hinge device of claim 6, wherein the cam surfacecomprises a stop surface longitudinally formed to limit a furthermovement of the protrusion of the rotatable shaft part when theprotrusion reaches a deepest valley portion to completely open thecover, an opening guide surface obliquely formed on the cam part toguide the protrusion in a direction to open the cover, and a closingguide surface of a predetermined length to be disposed at the highestposition of the cam surface and extended from the opening guide surfacein a direction perpendicular to an axis of the cam part to guide theprotrusion in a direction to close the cover.
 8. The hinge device ofclaim 1, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a tube member fixedly coupledto the rotatable shaft part such that the tube member cannot be rotatedwith respect to the shaft part, and the protrusion is formed on an outersurface of the tube member.
 9. The hinge device of claim 8, wherein thetube member comprises a flat face portion, and the rotatable shaft partcomprises a flat cut out portion corresponding to the flat face portionof the tube member so as not to be rotated with respect to the hingeshaft.
 10. The hinge device of claim 1, wherein the rotatable shaft partcomprises a hole diametrically formed on the rotatable shaft part, andthe protrusion comprises a pin inserted into the hole.
 11. A hingedevice rotatably coupling a cover to a container body in a storagecontainer, comprising: a housing; a hinge shaft fixedly coupled to oneof the cover and the container body at one end and rotatably coupled tothe other one of the cover and the container body at the other end,having a rotating part and at least one protrusion formed on therotating part; a movable member inserted around the hinge shaft to bemoved longitudinally without rotating with respect to the housing andprovided with at least one cam surface respectively corresponding to theat least one protrusion; and a spring biasing the movable member towardthe at least one protrusion contacting the cam surface.
 12. The hingedevice of claim 11, wherein the hinge shaft comprises a tube memberfixedly coupled to the rotatable shaft part such that the tube membercannot be rotated with respect to the shaft part, and the at least oneprotrusion is formed on an outer surface of the tube member.
 13. Thehinge device of claim 12, wherein the tube member a flat face portion,and the rotating part comprises a flat cut portion corresponding to theflat face portion of the tube member so as not to be rotated withrespect to the hinge shaft.
 14. A hinge device coupling a cover to acontainer body in a storage container, comprising: a housing body; ahinge shaft rotatably disposed in the housing body to protrude from thehousing body, having a protrusion formed on the hinge shaft; a movablemember slidably disposed in the housing body, having a central throughhole into which the hinge shaft is rotatably and slidably inserted, andhaving a cam with a variable cam surface formed to face the protrusionof the hinge shaft; and an elastic member disposed between the movablemember and the housing body to generate an elastic force to control themovable member to move along the hinge shaft toward the protrusion ofthe hinge shaft so that the cam surface of the cam of the movable memberis engaged with the protrusion of the hinge shaft.
 15. The hinge deviceof claim 14, wherein the hinge shaft is fixedly coupled to the cover,and the housing body is fixedly coupled to the container body.
 16. Thehinge device of claim 14, wherein the cover comprises a connector with afitting groove, and the container body comprises a support with afitting hole, and the housing body is fixedly disposed in the fittinghole of the support of the container body, the hinge shaft fixedlycoupled to the fitting groove of the connector of the cover.
 17. Thehinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaft is coupled to thecontainer body, and the housing body is coupled to the cover.
 18. Thehinge device of claim 14, wherein the housing body comprises oppositeends, an opening formed on the respective opposite ends, and a pair ofhousing covers attached to the opposite ends of the housing body, andthe hinge shaft is supported by the housing covers.
 19. The hinge deviceof claim 18, wherein each housing cover comprises a cover through hole,and the hinge shaft protrudes through one of the second through holes.20. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movable member comprises aguide hole, and the housing body comprises a guide rod disposed to beparallel to the hinge shaft, fixedly coupled to the housing body, andinserted into the guide hole of the movable member to guide the movablemember to move along the hinge shaft.
 21. The hinge device of claim 20,wherein the housing body comprises a cylindrical hollow body having anaxial axis, and the hinge shaft and the guide rod are parallel to theaxial axis of the cylindrical hollow body.
 22. The hinge device of claim20, wherein a portion of the movable member formed with the centralthrough hole is greater than another portion of the movable memberformed with the guide hole in thickness in a direction parallel to theaxial axis to prevent a movement of the movable member in a radialdirection of the hinge shaft.
 23. The hinge device of claim 14, whereinthe movable member comprises a pair of guide holes formed on oppositesides of the central through hole, and the housing body comprises a pairof guide rods disposed to be parallel to the hinge shaft, the guide rodsfixedly coupled to the housing body and inserted into correspondingguide holes of the movable member to guide the movable member to movealong the hinge shaft.
 24. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the camcomprises a hollow cylinder formed parallel to the hinge shaft to definethe central through hole, and the variable cam surface is formed on aside wall of the hollow cylinder perpendicular to an axial direction ofthe hinge shaft.
 25. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the movablemember comprises a plate disposed perpendicular to the hinge shaft, andthe cam and the cam surface is formed on the plate in an axial directionof the hinge shaft.
 26. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein themovable member has the same shape of the housing body in cross-sectionperpendicular to an axial direction of the hinge shaft.
 27. The hingedevice of claim 14, wherein the movable member comprises a guide recess,and the housing body comprises a guide rail corresponding to the guiderecess of the movable member, the guide rail being engaged with theguide recess to guide the movable member to move in an axial directionof the housing body when the movable member is inserted into the housingbody.
 28. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaftcomprises a rotatable shaft part and an extension part integrally andconcentrically connected to the rotatable shaft part, and the extensionpart is extended outwardly from the housing body, the rotatable shaftpart inserted into the movable member.
 29. The hinge device of claim 28,wherein the cover comprises a connector with a fitting groove having afirst flat portion, and the extension part of the hinge shaft comprisesa second flat cut portion corresponding to the first flat portion, theextension part of the hinge shaft inserted into the fitting groove torotate together with the cover.
 30. The hinge device of claim 28,wherein the hinge shaft comprises a flange formed between the rotatableshaft part and the extension part to control the rotatable shaft part tobe freely rotated within the housing body while preventing the hingeshaft from moving in an axial direction of the hinge shaft.
 31. Thehinge device of claim 30, wherein the flange is integrally formed withthe rotatable shaft part and the extension part or is made of a separatering to be fixed on an outer surface of the rotatable shaft part
 41. 32.The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the protrusion protrudes from anouter surface of the hinge shaft in a radial direction of the hingeshaft.
 33. The hinge device of claim 14, wherein the hinge shaftcomprises a hole formed in a radial direction of the hinge shaft, andthe protrusion is made of a pin fixedly inserted into the hole, bothends of the pin to protruding from opposite portion of the hole of thehinge shaft in the radial direction to contact the variable cam surfaceof the cam of the movable member.
 34. The hinge device of claim 14,wherein the protrusion comprises a pair of protrusions symmetricallyprotruding from opposite sides of an outer surface of the hinge shaft ina redial direction of the hinge shaft to contact the variable camsurface of the cam.
 35. The hinge device of claim 34, wherein thevariable cam surface of the cam comprises a pair of cam surfacessymmetrically formed to be disposed on the movable member around thehinge shaft, and the protrusions are engaged with corresponding one ofthe cam surfaces.
 36. The hinge device of claim 35, wherein the movablemember moves in an axial direction of the hinge shaft when theprotrusions slide along the corresponding one of the cam surfaces whilethe hinge shaft rotates with respect to the housing body.
 37. The hingedevice of claim 36, wherein each cam surface comprises an opening guidesurface, a closing guide surface, and a stop guide surface, and theelastic force of the elastic member varies when the movable member movesin an axial direction of the hinge shaft in response to a contactbetween the protrusion of the hinge shaft and one of the opening guidesurface, the closing surface, and a stop guide surface of the camsurface of the cam of the movable member.
 38. The hinge device of claim14, wherein the elastic member disposed between the movable member andthe housing body to push the movable member toward the protrusion of thehinge shaft.
 39. A storage container, comprising: at least one hingedevice having a housing body, a movable member disposed in the housingbody, a cam formed on the movable member, a hinge shaft movably insertedinto the movable member, a protrusion formed on the hinge shaft to beengaged with the cam, and an elastic member controlling the cam to beengaged with the protrusion of the hinge shaft, and a container bodyhaving at least one support and a fitting hole formed in each support toreceive the housing body of the hinge device; and a cover having aconnector and a connecting hole formed in the connector to be coupled tothe hinge shaft.
 40. The storage container of claim 39, wherein thehinge device does not project from a surface formed by the containerbody and the cover.
 41. The storage container of claim 39, wherein theat least one hinge device comprises two hinge devices, the at least onesupport comprising two supports each having the fitting hole receiving acorresponding housing body of the hinge devices, the storage containercomprising a second connecting hole, the connecting and secondconnecting holes connected to a corresponding hinge shaft of the hingedevices.
 42. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the at least onehinge device comprises four hinge devices, the at least one supportcomprising first, second, and third supports, the first and secondsupports each having the fitting hole while the third support isdisposed between the first and second supports to have two fitting holeson both sides facing one of the first and second supports, each fittinghole receiving one of the hinge devices, and the storage containercomprising a second cover having a second connector, the connector andthe second connector each having two connecting holes, each connectinghole coupled to a corresponding hinge shaft of the hinge devices. 43.The storage container of claim 39, wherein the container body is aKimchi storage container.
 44. The storage container of claim 39, whereinthe container body is made of a heat insulating material and comprises areceptacle chamber, a heater heating the receptacle chamber, and anevaporator cooling the receptacle chamber.
 45. The storage container ofclaim 39, wherein the container body comprises a compressor coupled tothe evaporator, and the compressor and the heater are coupled to anexternal power source.
 46. The storage container of claim 39, whereinthe support is formed on a top surface of the container body, and thehinge device is disposed on the top surface of the container body whenthe housing body of the hinge device is inserted into the support. 47.The storage container of claim 39, wherein the fitting hole of thesupport has the same semicircular shape as the housing body, and thehousing body is prevented from rotating when inserted into the fittinghole of the support while the hinge shaft rotates with respect to thehousing body.
 48. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the fittinghole of the support has the same flat portion as the housing body, andthe housing body is prevented from rotating when inserted into thefitting hole of the support while the hinge shaft rotates together withthe cover.
 49. The storage container of claim 39, further comprising acover having a connecting hole having the same shape of the hinge shaftin cross-section, wherein the hinge device is coupled to the cover whenthe hinge shaft is inserted into the connecting hole of the cover, andthe cover rotates together with the hinge shaft.
 50. The storagecontainer of claim 39, wherein the cover is made of a heat insulatingmaterial.
 51. The storage container of claim 39, wherein the coverrotates about hinge device in a closing section and an opening section,and the cam of the movable member and the protrusion of the hinge shaftcontrol the elastic member to generate an elastic force in response to arotation of the cover, the elastic force being greater than a rotatingforce of the cover by a self weight of the cover when the cover is inthe opening section, the elastic force being smaller than the rotatingforce of the cover by the self weight of the cover when the cover is inthe closing section.